CHEYENNE, Wy. - Seventeen additional Wyoming Army National Guard Soldiers deployed last night from the 133rd Engineer Company in Laramie to Baggs, Wyo., to assist Carbon County officials prepare for possible flooding along the Little Snake River.
The 33 Soldiers are working around the clock filling sand bags and placing them in key locations along the banks of the Little Snake River, in Baggs. A new water treatment facility, a telephone company and the northeast section of the town are the areas generating the greatest concern.
The Soldiers have worked around the clock since May 19, when activated by acting Wyoming Gov. Max Maxfield. The first wave of Soldiers worked for 30 hours straight to secure the banks of the Little Snake River.
"Even the guys who had been up all day stayed up all night and continued to sand bag," Baggs Police chief Ed Owen said. "By the time I went out the next day, we had a thousand sand bags in place."
Now, the Soldiers work in 12 hour shifts, returning to the basement of a local church to sleep.
The National Weather Service maintains a flood warning for communities in extreme southwestern Carbon County, Wyo., through this afternoon, and a flood watch through May 23.
"They've been a life saver for us," Baggs Mayor Linda Corners said. "Without the Guard, we would have been sunk."
The mayor and other local and state officials met with Maj. Gen. Ed Wright, Wyoming's adjutant general, in Baggs today.
"Our Soldiers are fighting to save this town," said Wright. "These are their neighbors, their friends and their family. This is why the National Guard has a state mission."